Invoicing can seem daunting, but it’s important to have a good system in place so you can avoid cash flow issues and improve your firm’s profitability. We all know how frustrating it can be to send out invoices only to wait days, weeks, even months later to ever see a check come in from your clients. If you follow the best invoicing practices for your firm, you can find your invoicing process to be easier than you ever imagined while feeling at ease with a more profitable and steadier cashflow.
Set Expectations When Onboarding
To get a head start on the best invoicing process, it’s important to begin on the right footing. That means setting clear expectations when onboarding new clients. Make sure you set expectations for all the payment and invoice workflows in a letter of agreement. This will be your contract.
The best way to ensure a strong invoicing practice is to be open and honest before you even send out your first bill to a client. This sets the stage for a healthy relationship and helps make sure your bills are paid. In your letter of agreement, you want to include items such as a billing timetable, fee structure, scope of work, payment terms, and your preferred method of payment.
Create a Clear Billing Schedule
A clear billing schedule helps you let your project owners know when your invoices should go out and when they should be paid. This is a good way to form healthy billing habits.
Build your timetable into all your agreements with clients and consultants. Make sure you collect from your clients before you pay your consultants. If you don’t have money from your clients, but need to pay vendors and consultants, you’ll be fronting the cash before it even comes into your firm. Keep your cash flow moving with a firm timetable so you’re always getting paid before you must make payments of your own.
Take Advantage of Time Tracking Software
Without proper time tracking, hours worked on a project are in the dark and you may even miss out on some extra billable hours.
Tracking time can help you understand:
Which tasks are taking longer than others
How many hours are being used so far compared to how many were planned
What percentage is completed so far
What to bill your client
Time tracking is typically a manual and tedious process. Most employees will hate doing it, and if you’re using a manual process, you can accrue a lot of errors which doesn’t help your invoicing process at all.
To get the most out of your time tracking, use an automated time tracking software. BQE CORE’s time tracking software is featured in our all-in-one dashboard. Automated software reduces time tracking to just a few clicks.
Benefits of time tracking software include:
Expedite payroll and invoicing with smart timecards and pre-populated timesheets that include customizable date ranges.
Copy timesheets easily to eliminate manual entry.
Track time and expenses from anywhere via the web and BQE CORE mobile app.
Effortlessly track and link all travel expenses and receipts to their respective projects for streamlined accounting and billing.
Photo-upload receipts easily to create a digital expense record that includes tax and expense type.
Accurately track time for projects, overhead, and time off.
Capture time down to the second with easy-to-use, pause-and-play timers connected to timecards.
Use Invoicing Software
Are you currently handling your invoicing all on your own? If you are, then you know how time-consuming this can be. Not to mention how you can easily make mistakes. This can lead to a loss in profit.
To make invoicing easier, and see more profitability, look for a software solution that allows you to manage your time, projects and invoices on the same platform, like BQE CORE.
Invoicing software lets you:
Ensure correct invoicing with powerful fee schedules.
Automatically create invoices based on your preferred schedule and frequency, then ensure they are received and reviewed by your client on time, every time.
Invoice the way you need to by customizing one of our 20 standard invoices — or have our team create a fully customized invoice template.
Schedule automatic invoices with variable values depending on billable time and expenses, or easily set up a schedule that runs on a specified frequency for fixed-fee contract types and retainers.
Set Up ePayments
Waiting for your clients to pay you can really slow down your invoicing process. And then if the check gets lost in the mail, you must wait even longer, which slows down your cashflow. Why not make it easier for your firm and more convenient for your clients with an ePayments system? Online payments, like BQE ePayments, let you receive client payments quickly while reducing risk with secure payments and improved visibility.
Other benefits for better invoicing with ePayments include:
When clients can pay instantly, your entire workflow is improved. With cash on hand, projects are no longer delayed, vendors get paid on time, and you’re not wasting precious hours of productivity.
Process quicker, more secure payments that include detailed remittance data, so you’ll always keep track of your bills while giving your clients a convenient way to pay.
The more payments your firm can process electronically, the less you spend on postage and paper.
Offer increased payment flexibility with seamless integration into your BQE CORE platform.
Receive greater visibility into payment statuses while viewing accurate audit trails. This also helps reduce any payment mistakes.
Better Invoicing, Better Project Management with BQE CORE
A better invoicing process for your firm is vital for cash flow and reducing overall stress. If you follow these best invoicing practices, you improve your firm’s profitability. Help alleviate some of the stress and reduce invoicing errors with BQE CORE. The all-in-one dashboard gives A/E and professional services firms complete automated access to billing and invoicing, time and expense tracking, HR, project management, and more.
Try a free demo today and experience better invoicing and improved cashflow.